Two holidays you might not know about.
A picture of Keira Cullan’s(‘30) family tradition(Kelly Cullan).
When most people think of December, and specifically holidays in December, what comes to mind first is Christmas and maybe Hanukkah or Kwanza. The truth is, December holds so many more holidays than that, celebrated by all different cultures around the world. These holidays include Victory Day, celebrated by people in Bangladesh, and St. Nicholas Day, celebrated in Western Christian countries.
St. Nicholas Day, also known as the Feast of St. Nicholas, is celebrated to observe St. Nicholas, who was a patron saint who was noted for his generosity. It is celebrated on the night of December 5th.
Keira Cullan, a student at Barstow who celebrated this holiday when she lived in Germany says, “On the night of 5th December you put a boot out in the hallway and you line them all up, each person in your family puts a boot out, and then on the morning of the 6th the boots will be filled with nuts and apples, and kids will also get games and books.”
St. Nicholas Day can almost be like Halloween in December. “It’s just a fun thing that you can compare and talk about with your friends, and on the night of the 5th, you can go out with your friends, and run from the Krampus,” Cullan explains.
Who is this Krampus? A half goat demon, Krampus is the scariest thing a kid on the naughty list can get.
Krampus isn’t all about fear, though. Cullan explains, “The Krampus is this thing, on the night of the 5th, you can go out with your friends, and throw snowballs at them and call them names.”
Krampus is often represented by real people, “Then they chase the kids, and they have bells so you can hear them coming, and they are wearing masks that have been passed down from generation to generation. They are wearing wool coats and furs.” But you also need to be careful, Keira mentions. If the Krampus catches you, they will whip you!
Another holiday in December is Victory Day, or in the Bengali language, Bijôy Dibôs. It is celebrated on December 16 to commemorate the victory of Bangladesh and Indian forces over the Pakistani forces in the Bangladesh Liberation War of 1971.
Arya Ahsan, a Bangladeshi who celebrates this holiday, says, “We all gather together, and we eat lots of yummy food and we celebrate and we usually wear red and green.” She says that they put up the Bangladesh flag to commemorate it as well.
Ahsan explains that Victory Day is a day that all Bangladeshis can feel proud of their culture, and that they get to speak their own language and have their own land. There are a lot of Bangladeshi holidays and festivals in December, but this one probably holds the spot as most important in many Bangladeshi people’s lives.
Victory Day and Saint Nicholas Day are only two holidays out of many in December. Some people you know might even celebrate a different holiday that you might not know about. There are also lots of holidays out there that are not in December that lots of people don’t know about. If we all take a little time to learn about them, we can make a more connected community.
